


To the place where I belong

by Miss_Romance_Lover



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-24 00:03:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12000708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Romance_Lover/pseuds/Miss_Romance_Lover
Summary: A series of ficlets for Robert weekTitle taken from 'Running' by James Bay





	1. Chapter 1

Day One: Write a romantic scene between your favourite Robert ship

*

He woke to find a hand caressing his cheek, gently smoothing its way up and down until it reached his jaw. There it rested until he managed to open his eyes properly.

“Hey, you,” came Aaron’s voice, and Robert could hear in its undertones the worry there, as well as see it written all over his face. “Took your time waking up, we’ve been waiting for hours.”

Robert opened his mouth to ask something, but couldn’t work out which question to ask first. Aaron sensed his confusion.

“Vic and Diane will be back soon. Once we knew we were just waiting for you to stop being a lazy git, I told them to go and have a break. You’ve been in an accident; do you remember what happened?” 

A cluster of memories flooded through him. He could remember leaving for Leeds to go to a meeting; that meeting running later than expected, and then rushing to get home to make the dinner plans he had made with Aaron that morning. He didn’t remember what the accident had entailed, but he gathered he must have been in the car at the time.

“Car crash?” Robert replied simply. Aaron nodded.

“You scared the hell out of me, you know.”

“Sorry.” He stretched out his hand, trying to reach Aaron’s. The younger man linked their fingers together. “What…what happened to me?”

“You’re going to be fine, Rob. A few bruises, stitches and a broken leg, but you’ve had a scan and there’s nothing else to worry about.”

Robert sighed in relief. “Okay. And what about you? Are you okay?”

Aaron leaned closer to him and squeezed his hand. In response Robert shuffled over and gestured for Aaron to join him. He perched himself on the bed so that they were facing each other. “’Course, don’t worry about me. You’re the one in the hospital bed. What is it about us and car crashes?” 

His attempt to lighten the mood was not lost on Robert. The trouble was, that last remark was only too accurate. The look on Aaron’s face as soon as the words left his mouth showed that he felt the same way.

“That’s why I’m asking,” Robert told him gently. “You can talk to me, Aaron.”

“That morphine must really be doing the trick if you’re feeling well enough to interrogate me,” he joked. Then he looked away, down at their still joined hands for a few moments. “It was like going back in time for a bit, if I’m honest,” he admitted.

Without words, Robert met Aaron’s eyes again and encouraged him to continue. “It’s just…what happened to Jackson. When I got here and the doctors couldn’t tell me anything at first, I thought I was going to lose you. Or that you might be really badly injured or end up paralysed like--”

“Hey, hey,” Robert cut in. “It’s alright. Everything’s alright.”

“I know. But back then it wasn’t, and I thought I was terrified then but today was worse. I kept thinking, why didn’t I say I love you before you left this morning? What if you didn’t know?” Aaron wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m making this all about me. How are you feeling?”

“Like you said before, the morphine’s doing its job. Look at me. I do know okay? I know you love me. And you know how much I love you, don’t you?”

“I know,” Aaron smiled, and Robert smiled back, that secret code between them ever present as they exchanged those words. “But I need to start telling you properly more often. You always tell me no one else comes close, and in case you didn’t realise, I feel the same.”

Moving in an attempt to sit up in the bed, Robert winced. “Hey, careful. Lay back down,” Aaron said as he helped him sink down into the bed covers. “I’ll get a nurse; that pain relief’s obviously wearing off.”

“Wait a minute,” the older man stopped him from getting to his feet. “I only wanted to give you a kiss,” he sighed at his apparent difficulty in doing something that usually came to him so naturally. 

Aaron chuckled. “You’re pouting.” Leaning in, he gave Robert what he was craving; and what they both needed. Now Aaron was reminded of the morning after the crash he’d almost died in. Robert kissing him so lovingly, so delicately yet with a certainty Aaron had never experienced before. So Aaron kissed Robert and made sure to pour everything he felt for the man into it. 

“I love you,” he said when they broke away. 

“Love you, too.”

Aaron stroked Robert’s hair away from his face. “I’ll go and find that nurse,” he told him. He walked from the room, a wave of contentment coming over him at the promise he had made himself: to tell the man he loved exactly how much he meant to him every day.

He had spent so much of the past being scared to voice how he felt. He wished he could tell his eighteen year old self that it was actually the easiest thing in the world to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Robert/Chas scene because I liked how their mother/son-in-law bond developed last year.

Day Two: Write a scene between your favourite Robert/family relationship

*

Robert is staring. It’s his wedding day and he’s staring at his husband and there’s not a single part of him that minds if anyone notices. Aaron is chatting to Vic and Adam, a pint in his hand and a smile on his face that lights up his eyes. 

He looks happier than Robert has ever seen him. Even on their first wedding day, although Aaron’s smiles were real they hid the pain of an imminent separation. This time there’s nothing holding him back. 

There’s nothing holding Robert back either. The smile making his own face ache is proof enough of that. He moves away from Diane and Bernice who are dancing away and heads towards Aaron, wanting to wrap his arms around him, steal him away for some time alone together.

A voice from behind him halts him. “Can’t leave him alone for two minutes, can you?” Chas is asking, and he turns to look at her, to work out whether she’s making a dig. 

She isn’t. She’s beaming at him. “Do you have any idea how long I spent worrying about Aaron,” she says softly, her eyes flicking towards her son then back to Robert again. “How long I spent hoping he would be alright? Well, more than just alright; I wanted to see him like this.”

Chas is gesturing at Aaron and there’s no question as to what she’s describing: happiness, contentment, joy. All words that Robert can understand she would never have associated with him once upon a time. He opens his mouth to reply but she’s not finished yet.

“I know I didn’t really get to know him properly until he was sixteen,” her smile falters as she is no doubt thinking over all that Aaron coped with before he had re-entered her life. She forces herself to recover, though. “And I can’t say I truly started to understand him until he was about eighteen. Even then it was Paddy he trusted most, not me. But it used to keep me awake at night, wondering if Aaron would ever stop fighting himself for long enough to let go and--”

“Be happy,” Robert finishes for her. She smiles at him once more, and their eyes are both on Aaron now. He’s being teased by Adam about something, so he’s trying to dodge his mate’s merciless nudging and bear hugging. They hear his laugh from across the room. 

Robert loves the sound of it.

“It’s all I want to do,” he tells his mother-in-law. She gives him a questioning look. “Make him happy,” he explains. Chas nods.

“Good. Just make sure you don’t hurt him again or I’ll smash your face in.” She chuckles at him and he grins back, because he’s not planning on that ever being a possibility. Still, he sobers from the banter quickly enough to voice it aloud.

“I promise,” he says, and she squeezes his shoulder and makes to wander off. “I was fighting myself too,” he blurts out suddenly and she stops still at his words.

“Sorry?”

Robert doesn’t know where his admission comes from. Perhaps it’s the motherly affection he feels for her kicking in. He and Chas had managed to build up something of a bond in the first year of his relationship with Aaron; and it had taken time after all that had happened but they’d settled back into it again. 

“Before I met Aaron…and obviously, for a while afterwards too. I was fighting who I was, because I was trying to be who my dad wanted me to be.”

Chas looks baffled. “Your dad? What did he want you to be?”

“Not someone who likes men as well as women, basically,” Robert answers bluntly. “He caught me with a lad when I was a teenager…Liv’s age, I was.”

She’s looking at him with kind eyes now, and Robert thinks of his mum and feels a pang. “What happened?” she’s asking.

“He belted me one, and sacked the lad. He was a farmhand, you see.”

Chas doesn’t respond, but her face gives away her empathy. 

“Vic and Diane don’t know any of this. Aaron does. I don’t know why I’m telling you, I just…”

The woman finds her voice. “Robert. It’s fine. And you should tell them. Diane, she knew Jack wasn’t perfect. People rarely are, are they? She’ll believe you, is all I’m saying. So what is it you want me to know – you’ve stopped fighting it?”

“Yeah,” he says with one of those deep sighs that feels like…like letting go, as Chas had referred to it when talking about Aaron’s struggles. He smiles at her. “Yeah I have. Excuse me, Chas, I’m going to go and be stupidly soppy with your son now.”

Reaching Aaron’s side he doesn’t even pause for words, just kisses his husband right in front of his sister and Aaron’s best mate. Because after all this time, after all they’ve been through together and apart, now there is nothing holding them back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A belated day three

Day three: Free day

*

Aaron arrived home to find Robert cooking, which was no unusual thing. Only, he had told Aaron that morning that he would be home late due to meetings.

“What you doing here?” he asked, heading into the kitchen.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were you hoping to have the place to yourself for an X-Box marathon?” Robert joked, turning briefly to turn down the heat on the stove. 

Aaron rolled his eyes. “Shut up, that’s not what I meant. Thought you had a busy one today?”

“Little white lie.” When his husband narrowed his eyes at him, he held up his hands in defence. “Seriously, I don’t tell you big lies any more. This is for a good reason, promise. All in the name of love, Aaron.”

“Er...what you on about? Although if these kinds of lies lead to a home-cooked steak I can’t say I’m complaining.”

Grinning at him, Robert turned the meat in the pan and checked on the contents of the oven. “Well, it’ll be ready soon. I was counting on you not clocking onto the date, so you wouldn’t think anything of it when I said I had meetings.”

“The date? No…I know I haven’t forgotten our wedding anniversary.”

“Don’t look so worried, it’s nothing official. It’s just four years today since you stole my car and--”

Aaron groaned. “If you say I stole your heart as well I won’t be able to take you seriously, mate.”

Raising an eyebrow, Robert checked on the steaks again. “I was going to say, ‘and things got interesting’, actually. But don’t pretend you don’t love it when I get all romantic. If you’re wanting a shower, you’ve got just enough time. Go on, you.”

Smiling now, Aaron moved closer to peck his husband on the cheek. “Thank you,” he said softly. As he wandered off upstairs, Robert happily turned back to his task.

When Aaron reappeared, their meal had just been set on the table, accompanied by a beer for him and a glass of wine for Robert. Aaron was carrying a pile of paper, which he put to one side on the sofa before sitting opposite Robert at the table. “This looks amazing, Rob.”

“Yeah? Good. What’s that you’ve brought down with you?” He gestured towards the sofa.

“Just something for you, for after we’ve eaten.”

Robert wanted to ask more, but Aaron was already tucking into his steak so he followed suit. “So, what’s the verdict? Was it worth all that slaving over a hot stove?”

“Tastes perfect.”

The older man was beaming. Aaron didn’t often say things like that. He’d called Robert ‘amazing’ once and the weight of his words, rare that they were, had stayed with Robert. 

“So,” Aaron started between mouthfuls. “I had no idea you were so sentimental over me nicking your car.”

“Well, it got my attention, didn’t it,” Robert smirked. “Who knows where we’d be now if you hadn’t done that.”

There was a grin from Aaron, and then his face grew serious. “I don’t like to think about you not being in my life.”

“Me neither.”

They locked eyes. Contact was only broken when Aaron reached for his beer. A few minutes later they finished eating.

“I was planning on doing the clearing up, but that was so good you may have sent me into a food coma. Which also means I’m too full to move and give you your present.”

“Oh, leave the washing up,” Robert told him. “I’ll do it later. Or tomorrow. So…whatever this present is, can I get it myself?”

Aaron looked towards the sofa and nodded. Robert stood up, went to retrieve the sheets of paper and returned to the table. The paper was covered in scrawls of Aaron’s handwriting, and Robert couldn’t tear his eyes away from it, even as he spoke. “Aaron? What is this?”

“I thought about giving it to you on our next anniversary, so I guess this counts as one now. It’s…okay, you know how rubbish I can be with words?”

“Sometimes you’re brilliant with them, actually,” Robert disagreed, still scanning through the first page. 

“Hardly,” he scoffed. “Anyway, you remember I told you, I love you so much that I don’t always know what to do with it? Well sometimes I write it all down, how I’m feeling. When I can’t figure out how to say it out loud.”

Robert looked up now, tears in his eyes. “But there’s so much here. You’ve written loads. When did you start?”

“A couple of months after we got together properly.”

“Aaron,” his voice cracked on the word. 

“I know I don’t say it as often as you do, but it’s not because I don’t feel the same. I didn’t really learn what love was until I was about eighteen, so maybe that’s why. I just want to make sure you know what you mean to me. So that when you say ‘you know’, it’s because you really know.”

Robert had to force himself to put the papers (the love letters? Probably best not to suggest that to Aaron) down for the moment. He reached Aaron’s side, held his face in his hands and kissed him. “I do know,” he replied. 

And although he had yet to read through Aaron’s thoughts properly, Robert knew from the few sentences he’d glanced over that nothing anyone else ever gave him was going to beat this.

He already had Aaron’s heart, but this was like seeing inside it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another late entry. It's brief, but hope someone enjoys anyway.

Day four: “That’s my favourite outfit on you”

*

It was Sunday, and they were going out for lunch. Just the two of them and a nice country pub away from the village for a change. Robert was sitting in the living room waiting for Aaron, dressed in his navy cardigan, a casual t-shirt underneath and a pair of dark blue jeans. 

Aaron arrived downstairs in a new jumper, his trademark hoodie and black jeans. His husband stood from the sofa and smiled. “Right, you ready to go?” he asked.

Although he gave him a nod in reply, Aaron didn’t move. He was studying Robert intently.

“Aaron? You alright?”

“Mmm? Oh. Yeah, yeah. I just…that’s my favourite outfit on you,” he said in a quiet voice. 

As soon as he finished his sentence he felt embarrassed. It wasn’t something he would normally say; and besides he was more prone to mocking Robert’s clothes than complimenting them. But since getting back together and later marrying officially, they had been both been getting better at being more open with each other.

Aaron knew he was probably blushing, but it didn’t matter so much when he looked at Robert to find a look of pure delight on his face. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“You know I’ve had this cardigan ages. It doesn’t make me look like an old man, then?” Aaron knew Robert was fishing for more now.

“No. It makes you look like…I can’t really explain. Crap with words, aren’t I.”

Aaron looked away, and Robert reached for him, wrapping his arms around his waist. “Hey. You’re not. You don’t have to explain, I mean it’s a wonder I’ve not fallen over in shock with you actually praising my fashion choices!” he joked, his husband laughing with him. 

“Yeah, well, at least you’ve given up on the floral shirts,” Aaron smirked.

“Who says I have? Might wear one tomorrow, actually.”

“Okay. I’m not being seen with you though.”

Robert went to tickle him in the ribs. “Oi!” Aaron dodged him well, practised as he was at this routine by now. 

When they had recovered from their laughter, Aaron broke away to pick up his car keys. “So, this outfit,” Robert probed gently. “I don’t mind it either. That’s why I wear it even with the whole ‘cardigans are for granddads’ thing. I like it because I’m not trying to be anything other than who am I when I wear it. Is that what you were trying to say?”

Fiddling with the keys from hand to hand, Aaron nodded. “I like your suits too, but I like this better,” he told him, almost shyly. Then he grinned at him, heading quickly for the front door as he spoke. “It makes you look a lot less smarmy as well.”

Robert chased him outside, shaking his head. “Git! You can pay for lunch after that.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day five and canon-compliant with the exception of the boys who are still together in this ficlet.

Day five: Robert + village member

*

Robert walked into the shop, finding it empty save for a sullen-looking Tracy behind the counter. He picked up a basket, wandering round and dropping various items into it such as bread and a six-pack of Aaron’s favourite beer. 

“Hiya,” he called over to Tracy. “You got any more of that French red wine? I can’t see it here.”

She didn’t speak, just pointed to an end aisle round the corner. He followed her gesture until he found the wine and put a couple of bottles in the basket. “Might as well get two, for that offer,” he said as he approached the counter to pay. It was more for something to say to break the awkwardness, really. Well, that and he didn’t want her – or anyone – to think he might have a drink problem with the amount of alcohol he was buying here.

Again, she didn’t offer a response, merely scanning his shopping in silence.

“What’s up with your face?” he asked, surprised to find himself interested. Maybe it was because Tracy Metcalfe usually always had something to say.

Immediately she reached up to touch her face. “What, is there something on it?”

“No,” Robert laughed. “I just meant, why do you look like you’ve just won the lottery but lost the ticket?”

She sighed. “Oh. It’s nothing.” It was definitely not nothing. He had heard that sigh from Aaron enough times to know.

Still, this was obviously a problem for David. At least he had done his neighbourly duty and shown he had some kind of empathy, something his loved ones often pointed out he lacked unless you were Aaron. “Okay,” he replied.

For some reason this seemed to jumpstart her, and Robert stood there in some surprise as Tracy blurted out her frustrations. “I just don’t get why David needs to spend all this time with Leyla. I know she’s hurting after what Pete did to her and I feel for her, I really do. She’s my friend too. But I’m his wife and he used to be engaged to her!”

There were a few quiet seconds, and by the look on her face she wished she hadn’t said anything. Robert took pity on her. “Er…right. Well I doubt anything’s going on there. Would have happened ages ago if there was still anything between them, wouldn’t it?”

Tracy sighed again. “I’m not saying I think they’re up to anything behind my back. David’s not like that. I just wish he’d notice that I feel…I feel unimportant next to her, at the moment. And everyone knows Leyla’s gorgeous, and sometimes I just think--”

Robert interrupted. “Don’t you think you’re overthinking this? He loves you, he chose you.” They were words he had spoken to Aaron once, about his feelings for him; trying to make him see that all the jealousy was unnecessary.

She seemed to bristle at his attempt to help though. “I do know that, thank you Robert,” she snapped. “If I could just click my fingers and not let it bother me, I would. I can’t help it that I grew up feeling like no one wanted me and it’s hard to shake off the feeling that someone else is better than me.”

He felt something creeping into his mind, something he should be grasping, but it wouldn’t come to him. It wasn’t clear enough. “Even if everything David’s done since he’s been with you proves it’s you he thinks is the best?”

She looked at him. “Some worries aren’t rational, you know. Didn’t your Aaron get jealous too, when you were hanging around with your ex? And then you went and proved his fears right by sleeping with her.”

Robert knew what it was now, it had clicked into place. He thought he had understood it that night, after he had told Aaron everything about Rebecca. His husband had confided his feelings of insecurity and Robert had listened, really listened and his heart had broken for him. But until now he hadn’t really connected the dots between Aaron’s unfounded jealousy and the night he had chosen to hurt him with Rebecca. 

He had always kept the two things separate in his mind, because at the time Aaron had been wrong not to trust him. Only now he saw it for what it was: by sleeping with his ex, Robert had pushed all of the man’s feelings of inadequacy to the surface. It was a miracle that he had been able to assure Aaron, the night he confessed, that nothing and no one would ever compare to him. 

Tracy had finished pricing up his shopping and had now bagged them up. He was lost in his own thoughts when she told him how much it was, conscious enough only to retrieve his card to make the contactless payment. 

“Talk to David,” Robert managed to say. “Tell him how you feel – that you know he’s not cheating but you’re upset about things. And tell him why,” he added, meaning that she had grown up with insecurities. “Make him listen and understand, like I should have done with Aaron.”

With that, he took his shopping and practically sprinted out of the shop and straight home to Aaron, leaving a bemused Tracy in his wake.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For Day 6 it's how I wish that awful prison scene had gone.

Day six: Write a scene the way you wish it had gone

*

Aaron had just left his seat in the visiting room, turning his back on Robert after pushing him away for the hundredth time, when he froze in place. He was fighting back tears, and all he wanted was his husband’s arms around him. The need for it had him spinning back round to face him.

Robert’s head was bowed, his hands covering his face. Aaron felt like the worst excuse for a human being as he watched the man’s shoulders shaking where he was obviously crying. He sat back in his seat, and the movement made Robert look up in shock.

“I didn’t mean it,” Aaron croaked out, wanting to reach out and touch Robert but fearing he’d lost the right.

“Didn’t you? Because it sounded like you did.”

“It’s…it’s this stuff I’m taking. You’re right, it messes people up. It’s messing me up and I was bad enough without it. I didn’t even want it at first, I promise you. I only started after…” he trailed off, unsure if he could bring himself to tell him what was really going on.

Robert let out a long breath, running a hand over his face as if to recompose himself before speaking. “After what, Aaron?”

Aaron opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come.

“Come on. You stopped yourself from walking out on me just now. I know you want to tell me. What could be so bad that you can’t talk to me? I’m your husband. Stop shutting me out.” 

Robert’s words were gentle, but his voice firm. He sounded a lot stronger than he looked on the outside. Aaron looked him over properly for the first time since their visit began – his mind too clouded by the come down from a spice hit to care earlier. He looked tired and drawn; pale, and he had clearly lost weight. Aaron felt that telling him would only increase Robert’s worries, but then keeping him in the dark wasn’t making anything better.

“I took the drugs to numb the pain. I think my ribs were broken.”

“What?”

“There’s this bloke,” Aaron lowered his voice, leaned in. “But you can’t go looking around, trying to work out which one it is. He hates me because I’m gay, and because I’m…because I’m Gordon’s son. They shared a cell.”

Throughout this explanation, Robert went through a range of emotions. Confusion, anger and fear. “He’s been beating you up?”

Aaron nodded. “But at least that only lasts until he’s gone back to his cell. It’s the mental torture that’s the worst. I worked so hard to get Gordon’s voice out of my head, and now he’s put it back there. I’ve been in his cell; I’ve seen where he died, Robert. Jason locked me in there until one of the guards found me.”

“Jason? That’s his name, is it? The thug who’s been hurting you?”

He hadn’t meant to let slip a name. This was exactly what he needed to avoid. “No, forget it. You can’t go doing anything about it. I mean it. It’ll only get worse, then I’ll be a grass as well as gay and the son of a--“ 

“Hey, hey, take a breath. Calm down, okay? Here,” Robert’s fury took a backseat as he registered Aaron’s panic. He gestured discreetly under the table, where he was able to take the man’s hand in his. “Is this why you didn’t tell me? You thought I’d steam in and report it, and the beatings would get worse?”

Aaron gripped onto his husband’s hand like it was a lifeline. Maybe it was. “Not just that. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“As if I don’t already spend every second of every day worrying about you.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh…it’s alright. You’ve told me now. But I need you to explain the rest. Why are you dealing the drugs?”

Aaron shook his head. “I’m not dealing. It’s just a few drop-offs. My cell-mate gave me my first hit, like I said it helped with the pain. Then I needed more, but he said I had to ask Jason. Only he didn’t want money for them, he wanted me to do his dirty work. And I know it’s stupid and I should have walked away, but I thought…I thought if I did it then he’d leave me alone.”

“But he hasn’t.”

“He did for a bit. Gets handy with his fists again whenever I mouth off though.”

Robert felt that anger building again. “God, I want to kill him.”

Aaron grew agitated again. “Please, just--”

“I know, I know. I won’t do anything stupid. I am going to sort this out somehow though, I promise. And if you think reporting it will make it worse…”

“It will.”

“Okay. But are all these prison officers oblivious? Why the hell aren’t they doing their job and keeping you safe?”

“They can’t all be everywhere, can they?”

“They bloody well should be. Right, I’m going to get the solicitor to push on with the appeal. Aaron, look at me.” Aaron met his eye. “No more drugs. Yeah?”

“Yeah. I won’t take any more.”

“Good. And no more of these ‘drop-offs‘? Will he come after you again if you stop?”

“Don’t know. It’s not like he needs an excuse. I’m still stopping, though. I need to…I don’t want you to end up hating me.”

Robert squeezed Aaron’s hand under the table. “I can’t hate you, it’s not possible. I love you too much.”

“I love you,” Aaron said, leaning forward again. “What I said before, about you and prison. I didn’t mean it, Robert. The only thing worse than being in here would be you, being in here.”

Robert gave him a look that indicated he understood. He had used words to hurt people, Aaron included, plenty of times. How could he do anything else but understand? 

“You hang on for me, alright? For me and Liv. I’ll get you out of here as soon as I can, and I’ll make sure no one else hurts you.”

“You can’t, I told you!”

“I won’t do anything to risk your safety, I won’t report him or have him killed – although it’s tempting. But I will not sit and do nothing about him. Trust me on this, okay?”

The buzzer signalled the end of their time together and both men sighed. Aaron stood up. “Rob?”

Robert looked up at him, waiting.

“I don’t care if anyone sees; I need one of your hugs.”

Standing up to meet him, Robert took him into his arms and held him. He gently rubbed Aaron’s back as the man shook a little in his embrace. They didn’t part until they heard the shout of one of the guards insisting time was up.

By the time Robert left the prison, he had a plan in action. Aaron would be home safe with him as soon as was legally possible, and then their marriage could really begin.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert is diagnosed with a life-long health condition and Aaron helps him deal with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not necessarily a storyline I want to see - but something that reverses the roles and has Aaron as the supportive one would be welcome! Subject matter written from personal experience, so it's accurate.

Day seven: Write a scene from a storyline you wish would be given to Robert

*

Robert sat down heavily on the sofa, dropping the bag full of medication at his feet. Aaron perched on the coffee table so he was facing him, waiting patiently until he was ready to talk. 

“We could open a bloody chemist, the amount of drugs we’ve brought back today,” the older man sighed.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, Rob. But things will start getting better.”

“Sure,” he didn’t sound convinced. “When exactly? When I’ve got enough tablets inside me that I rattle when I walk?”

Aaron put a hand on Robert’s knee. “Listen to me, we’ll do this together, alright? What did you always say to me, ‘you’re not on your own’ – well it works both ways. And I know I can’t know exactly how you’re feeling but I will do my best to understand.”

Robert gave him a brief smile. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with this, and you don’t have to.”

“Oi, don’t. I am going nowhere. We’re gonna get you well, and it all starts with these tablets. But first I’ll make us a brew, order a takeaway and find us something to watch on telly, because I can see you want to think about something else for a bit.”

Sitting up, Robert leaned closer and pecked him on the mouth. “Thank you.” Aaron stroked his husband’s hair and pulled him into a hug.

A few hours later they were full from a dinner of Chinese food and feeling more relaxed after watching a film. Robert had been able to switch off his brain for a while, and was lying against Aaron’s side. But now he sat up, feeling sharp pains ripping through his stomach. He winced and let out a groan he couldn’t suppress.

“Rob? Hey, lie back again. No, lie down properly.” Aaron got up and arranged the cushions as pillows, helping Robert to ease himself onto his back. “I’ll get your painkillers. There are some in this bag, aren’t there…”

He looked through the boxes of medication until he found what they needed, then went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. In seconds he was back by Robert’s side, and he propped the cushions up so he could sit up comfortably enough to swallow the tablets.

“What ones are they?” Robert asked, breathing deeply.

“Tramadol,” Aaron told him. He found the instructions inside the packaging and had a quick look through. “It’s quite strong stuff, but you’ll be alright on these now you’ve had something to eat.” When Robert gave him a confused look, Aaron continued. “I took it for a while after the crash, didn’t I? Made me feel a bit funny on an empty stomach.” 

Robert winced again, and reached for Aaron. His husband sat down on the floor next to the sofa, gripping his hand and waiting with him for the pain to subside. Sometime later, Robert sat up, the pain relief having finally kicked in.

“You okay?” Aaron asked as Robert pulled him up to join him on the sofa. “Do you want to go upstairs for a sleep?”

“No, I’ll be fine now. I shouldn’t complain, should I? There’s people going through worse with cancer and all sorts. I just hate feeling like this. It’s embarrassing.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about?”

“You joking? It’s a bowel condition.”

“Yeah, and Crohn’s is more common than it used to be. You heard what that doctor said; people talk about this kind of thing a lot more these days. You don’t have to hide behind it, and there’s support groups or online forums--”

“I can’t, Aaron. That stuff just isn’t for me.”

“Alright, well you don’t have to think about it now. Look, maybe it’s a good idea to start on the medication now? The sooner you start taking it, the sooner you’ll start to feel better.”

Robert looked like he wanted to argue, but he could see how hard Aaron was trying. He wasn’t letting this condition get in the way of them; Robert owed it to him to try just the same. They sat together and looked through the boxes of about six different medications, working out how much of each one he would need to take each day. It could have been overwhelming for Robert, had he not had Aaron with him. 

“Steroids…appetite increase…bloating. Oh, great. Will you still want me when I’ve ballooned in size?” he asked, only half-joking. 

“I’m always gonna want you, Robert.” Aaron’s answer left no room for doubt or hesitation, and Robert smiled at him warmly. 

“I love you. Good God, look at the size of these!” Having picked up another box, he pulled out the contents, surprised at how big the tablets were. 

“Blimey. How many of those do you have to take?”

“Two tablets, twice a day,” Robert read off the front of the box. “So four a day. See, I told you, I’ll be rattling when I walk.”

“You’ll feel better though. That’s what matters. It’s all I want, to see you feeling better. And I love you too. Right, I’ll put the kettle on again and then you can get cracking on these things, Mr Dingle!” 

Aaron got up to head to the kitchen, and Robert followed him. “You’d make a good nurse, Mr Sugden,” he said quietly. “Thank you. For looking after me.”

“Hey, you looked after me; now I’m looking after you. It’s what we do.”

And Robert thought, on hearing that, that he wouldn’t let this illness get the better of him. He was still a very lucky man, after all.


End file.
